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SINGAPORE: The US is urging Israel to hold off any attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
It believes such an attack could take place as early as April, and said such a move would be "premature" and "destabilising."
An Israeli air strike on Iran is a very real possibility, according to Lord Williams of Baglan.
The former UN under secretary-general and special coordinator for Lebanon was speaking in an interview with Channel NewsAsia.
Israel has accused Iran of being behind the recent attacks on its embassy personnel in India, Georgia and Thailand.
This follows the murders of Iranian nuclear scientists in the past two years attributed to Israeli agents.
Israel has a history of taking unilateral action against its neighbours.
In 1981, Israeli aircraft destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor at Osirak. In 2007, the target was a group of buildings in northern Syria.
The US said it was an unfinished nuclear reactor, but the Syrians denied the complex was connected with nuclear activities.
In September 2009, the existence of a secret enrichment facility near the Iranian city of Qom, was uncovered.
In June 2010, according to British Parliamentary briefing papers, Saudi Arabia had agreed to provide a corridor in its airspace to allow Israeli warplanes to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.
The assessment by Lord Williams of Baglan is that an Israeli air strike on Iran is very real possibility.
Lord Williams of Baglan is also former special adviser to two former UK Foreign Secretaries Jack Straw and Robin Cook.
Lord Williams said: "What is happening in Iran is actually far more serious and a greater threat to Israel than either of those developments.
"Why do I say that? Well, first of all, the Iranian nuclear process is far more advanced than either the Iraqis got to in the early 80's or the Syrians five or six years ago. Far more advanced.
"And Iran has mastered the nuclear cycle, plus it has developed ballistic missiles and what is left is essentially making that bomb and then making it capable of being put on a ballistic missile.
"On top of this for Israel, they point to the avowed intention of the Iranian government repeated many times by President Ahmadinejad that Israel has no right to exist.
"So in Israel, when I visit with colleagues and friends on the left or the right, I find a fairly unanimous body of opinion of deep concern about Iran and a reluctance to place everything in the hopes that the international community would be able to negotiate a settlement.
"I still believe a settlement is possible but my sense is that we are entering a dangerous period in the next 12 months.
"And Saudi Arabia is worried Iran could influence the kingdom's Shi'te minority, many of whom reside in its Eastern Province, where most of the Saudi oil reserves are located.
"That's a very tense area. We've seen it above all in the small island state of Bahrain where we had very bad clashes last year.
"They continue low level and for that reason, because they thought the kingdom was at stake, Saudi Arabia and some of the other gulf states intervened for a while to assist the kingdom of Bahrain.
"But it goes much wider than this. The crisis in Syria for example, is also approaching a Sunni-Shi'te divide and I was painfully aware of it also in recent years when my office was in Beirut where there too, you see a Sunni-Shi'te divide.
"If Iran is going out for a nuclear weapon, this will only exacerbate these tensions and I'm afraid have fearful results."
The US and Britain have stepped up diplomatic efforts.
Along with other permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, they are working to steer Israel away from a pre-emptive strike on Iran.
"I very much hope that a conflict can be avoided," Lord Williams said.
"Some experts doubt whether all the facilities can be taken out in a single strike. The best option remains a negotiated solution with Iran and I think for all the great powers as it were, the EU3 and the other 3, this has to be top of their agenda now in the coming months."
With economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton are cautiously optimistic about the prospect for Iran returning to nuclear talks with six world powers.
- CNA/wk
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